Sweet 16: Vols fall to Cardinals

EAST REGIONALLouisville 79, Tennessee 60CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Earl Clark scored 17 points and had 12 rebounds, and coach Rick Pitino's mix of defenses made life miserable for Tennessee and put the third-seeded Cardinals in the East Regional final.

After two blowout wins last weekend, Pitino's signature zone and pressure limited the high-scoring Volunteers to 34-percent shooting. The veteran coach improved to 8-0 in regional semifinals.

Terrence Williams and Andre McGee each added 13 points and David Padgett had 10 points and eight rebounds for Louisville (27-8), which nearly blew all of a 16-point first half lead, only to take control midway through the second half and keep alive its hopes for a second Final Four berth in four years.

Chris Lofton scored 15 points for Tennessee, but hit only 3 of 15 shots in his final game with the second-seeded Volunteers (31-5), who have never advanced beyond the round of 16.

North Carolina 68, Washington State 47 CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Tyler Hansbrough scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half and the top-seeded Tar Heels, not known for their defense, held Washington State to 32-percent shooting.

North Carolina is back to the NCAA round of eight for the second straight season.

Danny Green had 15 points to help the Tar Heels (35-2) set a school record for victories in a season while continuing their dominant tournament run. The No. 1 overall seed will play the Louisville-Tennessee winner Saturday with a clear home-court advantage, playing in an arena located about two hours from its Chapel Hill campus.

North Carolina improved to 24-1 in NCAA games played in its home state, and for the first time in this tournament, the Tar Heels didn’t crack 100 points. It didn’t matter.

Washington State’s perimeter scorers, Derrick Low, Kyle Weaver and Taylor Rochestie, couldn’t get their shots to fall. They combined for 26 points on 10-for-37 shooting for the Cougars (26-9).

B.J. Raymond made two 3-pointers in the last 1:18 of overtime and the Musketeers advanced to the West Regional final past coach Bob Huggins’ Mountaineers.

Third-seeded Xavier (30-6) will seek its first Final Four appearance when it plays the winner of the UCLA-Western Kentucky game in the regional final on Saturday.

Raymond, who had made only one field goal all night, hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to put the Musketeers ahead 75-74 with 1:18 to play. He then shook loose on an inbounds play, took a crosscourt pass and made a 3 with the shot clock expiring with 30 seconds to go for a 78-74 lead.

West Virginia missed four of six free throws in the overtime. Alexander missed one with 14.2 seconds left in regulation that would have given his team a 65-64 lead.

UCLA 88, Western Kentucky 78PHOENIX — With Kevin Love scoring a career-high 29 points, the Bruins nearly frittered away a 21-point halftime lead and hung on to defeat Western Kentucky.

The top-seeded Bruins (34-3) are a win away from their third consecutive trip to the Final Four.

Love also had 14 rebounds. He hit 10-of-14 shots from the floor and helped rescue the Bruins for the second time in as many games. James Keefe had 18 points and 12 rebounds, both career highs for UCLA.

UCLA led 41-20 at halftime, but the Hilltoppers began pressing and whittled the lead to 61-57 with 6:50 to play. But then Love scored from close range and Josh Shipp hit a 3-pointer to push UCLA's lead to 68-59.